Ravi Kapur extends Paniolo Social at Bloodhound

Ravi Kapur has been popping up at Bloodhound on Thursdays during the month of August, and now he’s extended his casual pop-up, dubbed Paniolo Social, though September.

The poke bowl. Photo: Twitter/@liholihoclub

“We’ll do the next four Thursdays. Feedback was pretty good, and response was pretty good,” says Kapur, whose brick-and-mortar version of Liholiho Yacht Club — a partnership with Nopa’s Allyson Jossel and Jeff Hanak — is currently under construction on Sutter Street. Paniolo Social runs on Thursday from 4 p.m. until food runs out; behind the bar at Bloodhound, you’ll find a tropical drink special or two as well. (Whether the pop-up continues beyond this month will be determined in four weeks.)

Expect a similar compact and casual Paniolo Social menu throughout September, with poke, noodles, a sausage and an excellent burger.

That burger is particularly interesting. Kapur uses grassfed beef from Mindful Meats, where cows spend an average of five years on pasture. Kapur says Paniolo Social is the only place in the city making a burger with Mindful Meats (Korean burger joint Konjoe down in San Jose uses them, too). He cooks the five-ounce patty on a griddle with just salt.

Since the Mindful Meats beef comes from older animals, the flavor is cleaner and as Kapur puts it, a perfect platform for the rest of the accompaniments: a sesame bun from Panorama, a kimchi Thousand Island sauce and pepperjack cheese.

“A lot of people are asking if we’re going to change (the menu). I want it to be this thing that people know it’s going to be there, and prices are low,” Kapur says. “If you’re going to have a burger, this is the once-a-week spot. This isn’t about a creative journey; it’s about just having fun, cooking on the street.”

Paniolo Social at Bloodhound: 1145 Folsom Street, San Francisco. Thursdays in September, from 4 p.m. until out.